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Development Patterns

Reinventing Local Planning for 7 Generations

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This web page is a summary briefing paper for central government. Its objective is to secure support from central government for a new development pattern called MarketTowns.

A smarter way to manage growth in NZ

“There is a smarter way to manage growth on the city fringes by properly integrating land use with transport and infrastructure planning… It is also essential to reform the way infrastructure is financed. The cost of new infrastructure must rest with the property owners of new developments to prevent the ratepayer carrying the can for expensive infrastructure investment in places where it’s too expensive to build. Phil Twyford May 18, 2016

The smartest way to manage growth is to:

eliminate the need for day-to-day driving and

use 21st century technology where utilities are on-site, self-contained and paid for by the development and

lower the cost of housing and the cost of living

How do you eliminate the need for day-to-day driving?

Build a market town with a fibre-optic economic base focusing on attracting head-of-household jobs… 20% selling local-to-global and 80% local-to-local

All schools, shops, services and leisure activities are within the town, just like the historic towns of old Europe that are car-free

No outbound commuters, no outbound shoppers or students; just delivery trucks, shuttles and visitors

How do you avoid new pipelines?

Implement advanced integrated water management systems so a town of 10,000 on 200 ha. can operate on 20 cm of rainfall per year

CodeMark 99% of the buildings (attached townhouses) to reduce the cost and delays of building consents

Engage the settlers, the future citizens, in the design process to spread and reduce economic risk

How do you lower the cost of living?

Eliminate the need for transport - cars or public transport (healthier too) - cuts cost of living by about 15-20%

Lower the cost of housing - aim for half the current median price and set aside 25% as permanently affordable

Lower the cost of water and energy by harvesting and storing locally - rain and sun is free

Lower the cost of services and consumer goods with coops and group purchasing and

Create a socially & culturally enriched environment that is more engaging than artificial and costly entertainment

What is the role of Central Government in helping to make this happen?

The power of government is the power of permission. Pass the UDA.

Do not appoint the usual insiders to the UDA board; select practical visionaries not prone to silo thinking

Engage in a PPP with the Market Town team who provides the capital, management, product and sales

Engage overseas embassies/consulates to invite expatriate Kiwis to bring their businesses home

Consider a proactive migration policy that headhunts the world to bring the best talent to NZ with visa

Consider empowering the Superannuation Fund to invest in mortgage-backed securities for townhouse buyers

Minister of Housing & Urban Development / Transport

Car-based vs human-scaled development patterns

Building houses is not enough. The house is where you sleep, eat and relax, but what you design and where you build them is as important as the number of houses you build.

As Auckland and Queenstown are discovering, building more bedroom communities comes at a cost:

Congestion: When homes are separated from work, schools, shops and services, taxpayers and ratepayers carry the can to pay for new roads while they suffer congestion and pollution

Deficit: Transport-based design contributes to the national deficit; NZ's top imports are cars and petrol

Alienation: Bedroom communities separate people socially - children, adults and elders - and they result in social dysfunction, poorer health and obesity

The answer is to move destinations, not people.

Look at how towns were built before cars. All day-to-day destinations were within walking distance. The Crown gave market town charters to those that became economic hubs. Market Towns were human scaled. Those car-free towns that remain in Europe are visitor destinations because they are wonderful places.

The human-scaled market town development pattern was demolished by the Industrial Revolution. Big industry needed large numbers of unskilled factory workers concentrated in gritty, blue-collar cities - people became fodder for factories. Those cities were not wonderful, just profitable for factory owners.

The Industrial Revolution gave way to the Automotive Revolution that spawned suburban sprawl. People became consumers - the buyers of cars, growing the market for petroleum, rubber, chemicals and steel. But that too had its adverse effects. Suburbs are not wonderful, just profitable for developers.

Now, the Technology Revolution means millions of jobs can be done anywhere there is ultra-fast broadband. It's not for everyone, but it is for enough to populate whole towns with 20% local-to-global workers that import money to circulate for the hundreds of local job types that can service the town's citizens. It requires a critical mass of 5,000 to 10,000 population and it requires specific policies to ensure it remains a complete, not elite, community. Such towns go full circle, returning to a wonderful development pattern that people love.

The plans to build are in place. Commitments have been made to provide the building systems, the financing and the expert teams necessary to begin in 2018. What is required is permission from government.

We envision a PPP under UDA with central and local government that identifies the best site for the prototype project. Give us the permission, provide the necessary oversight to ensure we deliver, and then let us get on with the job.

Minister for Children, Seniors and Education

Youth

If you want to reform education, understand how children have learned for as long as humans have been on this planet. Children learn by role models. From the moment they are born, children learn by interaction. They observe adults going about their business. They interact with those adults, learning what society expects of them. They mature in their teens and become participating members of society.

We do children a severe disservice when we remove them from society and lock them up in segrgated school campuses isolated from real life. Instead of real role models, and real life to negotiate, we plant them in front of television, or give them a smart phone or tablet to keep them quiet - not appreciating how we are further isolating them from social interaction.

The answer is simple:

Build a town with a car-free urban core, so children can experience a safe, free-range childhood in constant contact with adults.

Make the car-free streets safe so parents feel comfortable letting their kids play outdoors without supervision

Build childcare and primary school classrooms on the central village plazas so children learn amid adult role models

Provide lunch in the village-funded cafe on the village plaza - so that children eat where working adults and elders eat

Build a multi-college high school (academic, vocational, arts & hi-tech) facing the town centre plaza for in-town learning